Since 1996, the biennial Watch has drawn international attention to cultural-heritage sites in need of assistance, helping to save some of the world's most treasured places. The 2012 Watch includes 67 sites, representing 41 countries and territories.

Ranging from the famous (Nasca lines and geoglyphs, Peru) to the little-known (Cour Royale at Tiebele, Burkina Faso); from the urban (Charleston, South Carolina) to the rural (floating fishing villages of Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam), the 2012 Watch tells compelling stories of human aspiration, imagination, and adaptation. The 67 sites vividly illustrate the ever-more pressing need to create a balance between heritage concerns and the social, economic, and environmental interests of communities around the world. Moreover, in addition to promoting community cohesion and pride, heritage preservation can have an especially positive impact on local populations in times of economic distress, for example through employment and the development of well-managed tourism.

Found in every type of environment, from the Central Asian steppe to New York City, the 2012 sites range from prehistoric to modern, and include religious structures, cemeteries, houses, palaces, bridges, cultural landscapes, archaeological remains, gardens, train stations, and entire villages and neighbourhoods. In some cases the Watch supports an existing plan to address challenges, in others it advocates for the development of one.

Founding Sponsor of World Monuments Fund American Express grants $5 Million to support program for next five years.

"American Express has a longstanding and far reaching commitment to preservation," said Timothy J. McClimon, President of the American Express Foundation. "We are proud to support the World Monuments Watch, and to partner with WMF to ensure that living monuments to cultural heritage remain safe and accessible to the public."

Here is the list of European sites in need of assistance (given from west to east)